Lompico water district explores possible additional water source

FELTON -- Facing an emergency water shortage and failing wells, the Lompico Water District soon may have to choose between treating its water and turning on a backup well.

The district's board accepted a $46,000 bid Tuesday to renovate the Lewis Treatment Plant, unused for more than a decade, which would remove iron and manganese in the well water. But before moving forward with the project, at a cost of $95,000, the board will wait to see whether an additional water source, a backup water well, is needed.

The district started testing the well after Jan. 28, when Lompico was named as one of 17 rural communities in danger of running out of water in 60 to 120 days by the state public health department. Initial tests showed it could produce around 15 gallons per minute, which could boost total production nearly 40 percent.

Since the well's water has a rotten smell that requires additional treatment, it has been unused for years, which makes production estimates unreliable, said Lois Henry, president of the Lompico water board. Three years ago, when the district turned on the well, it ran out after three weeks, she said. Rehabilitating the well, known as well 6, at an estimated cost of $30,000, is risky, said Henry.

"We have to spend all this money on well 6 and it lasts for three weeks, then what do we do?" she said. "We don't have Lewis Treatment Plant and we don't have well 6."

The decision hinges on whether the San Lorenzo Valley Water District approves an emergency pipeline, which would allow Lompico to keep producing around 30 gallons per minute, should well production continue to drop. The $115,000 pipeline, which would be paid for with state emergency funds, would allow Lompico to take wells offline to perform maintenance, which it currently cannot do. San Lorenzo Valley's board plans to discuss the pipeline at its Thursday meeting, and if approved, construction could be completed within a month.

Since August, Lompico has been solely dependent on three wells, two of which have continued to decline in production. The district has been unable to draw water from Lompico Creek, which normally provides 24,000 gallons per day. The district needs to produce 88 gallons per minute to meet state standards. The district has been producing about 60 gallons per minute to serve their 500 customers.

Lompico has been in talks with San Lorenzo Valley Water District for three years about a merger, and both sides are expected to submit a proposal by March.

Next to the merger, emergency pipeline and sulfur well -- all uncertain projects -- the district has no other options for additional water sources besides trucking in water, said board member Rick Harrington.

When Lompico trucked in water during a drought in the late 1980s, the district had to increase water rates, he said. Harrington proposed starting the process for a rate increase, should conditions worsen and water delivery was necessary.

"If we didn't and we had to bring in water by the truckload, we'd be bankrupt in a few months," he said.

Other board members said the move would be premature, and the motion was tabled to the next meeting.

"If March comes and we still have insufficient rain, or April and the emergency intertie (pipeline) isn't up and going, I think maybe at that point we could go ahead and do this," said Henry.